The Allobroges camp

At the summit of the Petit Salève, traces of a fortified enclosure can still be seen. This is an Allobroge camp dating from the 5th to 1st centuries BC.
This defensive site, partly surrounded by natural cliffs, is completed by "ramparts" made of earthen embankments. The Allobroges were Gauls who populated the territory corresponding to historic Savoie. In the 1st century B.C., the Romans appropriated the camp and turned it into a much smaller Oppidum than Geneva. It was a strategic location, overlooking the Lake Geneva basin and traffic routes: the Roman bridge at Etrembières over the Arve and the roads on either side of the Salève and on the ridge.